The Origin of the Cult of Horus in Predynastic Egypt - Page 24

The Origin of the Cult of Horus
in Predynastic Egypt - Page 24

7. A dog-like Seth and Horus the Falcon

We now can connect the names and serekhs of the Pharaohs to our original discussion of the fact that the North Celestial Pole for the first Pharaohs was found in the stars of Ursa Minor, protected by its guards, the stars Kochab and Pherkad, symbolized as falcons.

Figure 17: The Calendar Reform of Khasekhemwy

Allen writes about Horus[53] that it represents one of the oldest heavenly "myths".[54] The desert peoples, on the other hand, saw the North Celestial Pole as a herd of camels, protecting themselves in a ring against the attack of the hyenas or the jackals. In this manner, the jackal and the hyena, as Seth, entered the Pharaonic heavens as foreign symbols. The original symbol of the falcon now had competition at the center of heaven.
__________
[53] Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names, Dover, NY, 1963, p. 434.
[54] Marija Gimbutas writes that a falcon-like heveanly bird goddess is in evidence for the peoples of Europe from the very earliest of times. Is that the Pharaonic Horus origin? Marija Gimbutas, Die Sprache der Göttin: Das verschüttete Symbolsystem der westlichen Zivilisation, Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt, 1998, originally The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization.